Applicable to: England

In July 2001, the Metropolitan Police Service introduced a pilot scheme in the London Borough of Lambeth for dealing with cannabis possession offences. The scheme was designed to save police officers’ time and allow them to redeploy their resources to tackle more serious offences, including dealing in Class A drugs (like heroin and crack cocaine) which do the most harm. Under the scheme, the police issued ‘on-the-street warnings’ to people found in possession of small quantities of cannabis for their personal use - and confiscated the drug.

It was intended that the pilot scheme would run for an initial six-month period, and this was subsequently extended by a further six months, ending on 31st July 2002. A full evaluation of the scheme took place (MPA 2002), which showed that police time had been saved (equivalent to 2.75 officers in the Borough) and that police activity against Class A drug dealers had increased. In the light of its evaluation, the Metropolitan Police refined the scheme and, since 1st August 2002, Lambeth officers may arrest a person who is in possession of cannabis, where there are certain aggravating factors. However, in most cases, officers continue to issue warnings and confiscate the drug.

References
MPA (Metropolitan Police Authority) (2002). The Lambeth cannabis warning pilot scheme. MPA, London. (www.met.police.uk/drugs/publications/cannabis%20pilot.doc. Accessed 20 October 2003).